New French Company Creates Olfactory Links with Dearly Departed & Loved Ones {The 5th Sense in the News}

Kalain is a new French company which offers a very intimate service: the recreation of the personal body scent of the dearly departed - or your loved ones away from home, or still learning to walk at home...

This service already exists in the United States where the technology makes it based on the DNA of a deceased person; My DNA Fragrance is the company behind IQ, the scent Albert Einstein or Marylin, that of the doomed sex icon. Kalain, in association with the university of Havre and its organic chemistry and macromolecular unit (Urcom), have found a way of capturing the scent of someone by using their clothing.

The idea sprung from the despair founder Katia Apalategui felt over the death of her father 7 years ago, with her mother adding that she couldn't bring herself to washing her defunct husband's pillow case.

In a promotional video posted on You Tube, the company specifies that the technology can be applied to a beloved pet as well, or simply to remember the scent of your own baby. For spouses with military service men and women, for instance, it could also be a way of maintaining an affective link - in fact, Kalain, which could be translated as "Kuddle" in English, define their mission as the "creation of olfactory links."

The "extraction" process rests on about the 50 different molecules which make up a person's sillage. After four days, it is bottled as an alcohol-based fragrance for 560€.

The start-up plans to work in partnership with the funeral home business as well as via an Internet site kalain.fr which is still under construction.

Via l'Obs Société